Roy Gaines told a judge yesterday that his tattoo says "Gaines" and not "Gangs." He denied being in a gang, but was restricted.

A judge ordered numerous restrictions against 86 documented members of a Skyline street gang yesterday, barring them from hanging out together in public, wearing gang colors or flashing gang hand signs in their neighborhood.

San Diego Superior Court Judge Luis R. Vargas granted a preliminary injunction, described by prosecutors as the latest and largest such civil action to control gangs in the county.

Vargas said the gang was a public nuisance and that the order was necessary to protect Skyline residents from violence and intimidation.

Many of the men named in the injunction told the judge the order unfairly marked them as gang members, even though many of them had never been arrested for gang-related activity.

Some said they used to be members of the gang, but had since grown up, gotten jobs and started families.

Several of the defendants said the order essentially amounted to racial profiling, because all of the defendants are young black men. They also said it would prevent them from hanging out with people they've known since childhood.

"I don't look at them as gang members, I look at them as a friend I grew up with," said Shannon White, 31, adding that he felt he should be removed from the injunction.

"I'm just trying to do what's right," he said. "I feel like justice should be served in the right way."

The order precludes those named in the injunction from associating in public with other known gang members, intimidating people or blocking them from passing on public streets or sidewalks within four specific "safety zones" in the Skyline community.

Other restrictions include fighting, trespassing, littering or acting as lookouts to warn of police in the area.

Violations of the order can be prosecuted as misdemeanors, and result in up to 180 days in jail and/or a $1,000 fine, according to Deputy District Attorney Terri Perez.

There have been more than a dozen such injunctions in San Diego County since the first was obtained against an Oceanside gang in 1997.

District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis, San Diego Police Chief William Lansdowne, County Supervisor Ron Roberts and San Diego City Councilman Charles Lewis expressed their support of the injunction later at a news conference.

"This is indeed a special occasion for us to be able to take back our neighborhood," said Lewis, who grew up in Skyline.

After hearing from more than 20 of the defendants, Vargas removed four of them from the order. Ninety people were initially named in the injunction, 30 of whom are in custody for crimes. None of the jailed defendants appeared in court yesterday.

The judge modified the order to accommodate defendants who said they were employed alongside others named in the injunction. He also said he would allow brothers named in the action to associate in public if they are accompanied by a parent.

Vargas said he had to weigh the concerns of the defendants against those of citizens who signed documents saying they felt a "deep and abiding fear" in their own community because of gang activity.

"They feel trapped. The declarations make clear that they seek to escape," Vargas said. "I'm striking a balance, there is no question, but I believe that this injunction is a start."